Just need to talk to my friends (218)

I ate artichoke once, at someone's house. It was okay.

I am planning on meeting up with two of the women from my Italy trip on Sunday. The venue is 30 miles away, in Century City. I'm not looking forward to the traffic.

Iris

Good morning

Ron

I am from Chicago and grew up on artichokes (seasonal). Never had broccoli until I was an adult.

!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO THUNDER !!!!!!!!!!!!

Lorita, I suspect the rechargeable battery in your flashlight is worn out. They don't last forever, just like the rechargeable batteries in our cars.

I don't know a lot about data centers, but I suspect that when you ask Alexa how tall a basketball player is, the answer comes to you from a data center, as does this message. If I post something about needing a new flashlight, and I start seeing ads for flashlights, that comes from a data center too.

I filled my gas tank while buying groceries today. I'm getting about 30 mpg with the Subaru, quite a bit better than in the Maxima, which had a substantially more powerful engine and got about 22 mpg. Gas was $4.049, less than high tax states but nearly $2 more than before the attacks on Iran.

The weather forecasters expect an inch of rain in the next four hours. I'm going to put the car in the garage. TTYL

They already are. Part of the evidence used against the man accused of stabbing the four college students last year was the location of his phone that night. We don't yet have facial recognition on every street corner, like China, yet.

Yep. It's worrisome to me that our economy is that fragile in a time of war, but it is.

My local newspaper just ran an editorial about data centers. Basically, the plan is to build these gigantic computers and routers in order to be able to compete with China. That's what the editorial stated: "It's crucial to build the infrastructure that allows this to take place—and that ensures that the United States can compete with China."

There are 3,000 new data center projects in development around the country, primarily in CA, VA, GA and TX, also in other states. But there is a lot of opposition.

Iris

When I charge your phone…tablet….computer I assume I am charging a battery. Right??? If so I imagine they can be replaced.

Good morning

Ron

Data is everywhere. Everything that's online is stored in a data center, including the information about cell phone pings. But these older data centers have not been so intrusive in our lives until they get hacked. The newer data centers that everyone is talking about are to support AI. Each use of AI uses a tremendous amount of data, meaning electricity and the water to cool the electronics. Coming as I do from the desert, the amount of water use is as concerning as the electricity.

Everything we use (it seems like) uses electricity. If it's not plugged into the wall, it has a battery.

Stayed up watching The Tudors…Ann's head is about to roll.

Change is not always easy for me but it will happen.

I do not want to grow my own food. I do not want to put what I don't eat in a jar for later use. I do not want to churn butter or slaughter meat. I want to be able to fly across our country and to to other countries. I want a car and paved streets not a horse and dirt road. I want a hospital that forges forward to care for me when ill. No to outhouses and wells…yes to the internet which serves as my class room every day. Yes to the printing press and movies. Yes to TV and gas stoves and icemakers.

Lorita…you are not a fuddy-duddy. You, like everyone, does not always see the future as a trade off. The big question is, I think, what are we willing to give up for "what was".

Ann's head is gone and Henry has his 3rd wife.

My new flag has arrived (my computer>the internet>Amazon warehouse>airplane>delivery truck>myhouse>flagpole all within 18 hours I got a Betsy Ross flag in honor of 250 years. Also found a Red Ripper flag to fly on Dick's birthday.

Judith - I'm with you. I am not a tough guy, and I really like my creature comforts. Change will happen whether I like it or not, but I'm never going to like traffic circles. Never.

Happy day for us here in the PNW! Copper River sockeye salmon showed up in the grocery store! Copper River salmon season here is short - it'll be over by mid-June. If you happen to see it in your store, grab some, you won't be sad. Since it's the beginning of the season, the prices are sky high - $99 per pound for Copper River King salmon - which is just crazy talk, and $50 per pound for Copper River sockeye salmon (which is what we got). We got lucky though, very short flash sale that we just happened upon , $20 per pound. We jumped on it.

As I was waking up this morning, I was reading the news online. Bad news, bad news, bad news, and then - an article about the La Brea Tar Pits!: 'Pompeii, but in the middle of a massive city': the ice age fossil site hidden in Los Angeles. Well, it's not all that hidden, it's on Wilshire Blvd., which is a main street in L.A..

My parents made the mistake of taking me there as a child - the museum wasn't there yet, but I remember being just fascinated by that place. All that tar. My favorite exhibit at the museum is a simple clear cylinder filled about half way with tar. You can push the plunger at the top down, and then try pulling it back up. You'll meet a lot of resistance. It demonstrates how difficult it would have been for an animal trapped in the tar to escape.

Otherwise, I'm having a lazy day and looking forward to munching some salmon. 🙂

Copper River Salmon….once. It sure was good!